brian.w

going to peth later in jan for a month while i am there i want to check out some areas that i might want to live or look into when i make my move,i dont know when i will move there could be a year from now,sooner or later,i know a lot can change in that time and also new areas can pop up,but be good to get a feel or places when i am there and see what is got to offer.
Anyone recommend any area,places etc,prefer to be a little south of perth or in and around perth.

h2oskineil

Hope this helps? You'll have to 'suck it and see' Area's people might love.... you might hate! :-)

Where to Live in Perth, Australia

Written by Geoff Hopkins of Aussiemove. Last updated June 2007.

The Main Choices
Broadly speaking, the Perth area offers five main geographical/lifestyle choices: River, Beach, City, Hills, "Regional". So to start with, decide on your main aspirations for your new life - many people, especially those from UK focus on the beach but everyone's different. Personally, having lived reasonably close to the beach for a few years, I would now prefer to live close to the river (if I could afford to!!) - our preferences change over time.
Location, Location
So, let's say you love the beach and want to live close to it - how close? Actual beachside suburbs are expensive, but less expensive the further north/south from the CBD you go. As a rule of thumb I would say you need to be able to afford at least the median house price as stated by REIWA (also on Aussiemove) - which would buy you a house of "reasonable" size and quality in that suburb. Clearly this is an approximation - you may be happy with a very modest house in a great location or you may demand a 6 bedroom mansion and accept the fact it's in the middle of nowhere, I don't know. But for this discussion, let's look at the median-priced house in each suburb.

So, for $1.8 million¹ you get a house in Cottesloe (regarded by many as the most desirable beachside suburb). Looking further north, for about $1 million you're into Waterman's Bay, $810,000 for Sorrento, $690,000 for Ocean Reef, $600,000 for Mindarie and $440,000 for Yanchep, where you're 48km north of the city. But if you don't want to be so far from the city, look further east (ie. slightly further from the beach). For example, median price for Hillarys (0-2km from the beach) is $750K. In Padbury, the next suburb along, you'd be 2-4 km from the beach and the median is $421K. How long does it take to drive 3km to get to the beach?

Pretty much the same principles apply to the southern beachside suburbs, although there are some industrial areas in the south which make them undesirable even though they're by the ocean. And the same process applies if you like "the river" - Swan and Canning rivers - the most expensive suburbs of all are on the north bank of the Swan river.
Other factors
Of course, there are many other factors to consider apart from location; quality of housing, standard of schools, number of parks and open spaces. Naturally, the median house price is a good indicator of how desirable the suburb is, taking into account all of these attributes.

Other (probably less important) factors to consider: shopping and sporting facilities, ease of transportation to the city or wherever you're likely to find work.
Type of housing/character of the suburb
You may have your heart set on a brand new, modern style house. These are in abundance in new developments, both NOR² and SOR and are generally well-planned and attractive. But the trade-off is smaller blocks, fewer public facilities, few established trees, less character. By contrast, in the old suburbs such as Wembley, Mount Lawley, East Fremantle to name just three, you get character houses with established gardens and streetscapes, usually bigger blocks and lots of public parks. There are also a lot of northern suburbs that were built in the 70's and 80's (eg Duncraig, Carine, Marmion) which have great facilities but a lot of "dated" 70's houses - but there's a lot of house renovation going on in these suburbs.
City Life
If you prefer a "city" lifestyle, you may want to consider East Perth, Subiaco, some parts of Northbridge, possibly Joondalup. These areas typically have higher density housing - apartments and townhouses - with lots of facilities nearby: cafes, restaurants, cinemas, theatres etc. Other suburbs have the same type of facilities but rather with older, character houses than new townhouses - Mount Hawthorn, Vic Park, Fremantle spring to mind.
The Hills
Character houses, large blocks, hot in summer, very pleasant in Autumn/Winter. Probably more of a community feel than most of suburbia. Difficult to describe, so if it sounds like it may be your thing, just take a drive around Gooseberry Hill, Kalamunda, Mundaring, Roleystone to get the feel of the area. There's also the Swan Valley, which is semi-rural - wineries, horses and so on - not much old-style housing, but two fairly recent developments in that area - Ellenbrook and The Vines (around the golf course).
Regional
By this I mean towns outside the main Perth metropolitan area, which have an identity of their own eg. Mandurah, possibly Rockingham, definitely Bunbury and Busselton. Taking Mandurah as an example, it has experienced massive growth in recent years and provides many "lifestyle" options, not just for retirees, but also for families. There are many new developments around canals and golf courses or near the ocean. Definitely worth taking a look around if you don't mind being a fair distance from Perth.

http://www.aussiemove.com/city/city.asp?f=9&c=7

www.reiwa.com

Gordo Marshall

Hi

Have lived in Australia and been fortunate enough to try different states.

First thing why you wish to go to Perth. Be warned it is not really an 'alternative' or singletons place - personal opinion, and if you are not white, heterosexual, 2.4 kids, or a couple wish to breed sometime in the future I personally think Perth a REALLY hard place to live. It takes alot of time to get to know people there unless you are in the university world to have children. It is still quite a homophobic and white place, and a night out in ferril Northbirdge (which is CRAP anyway) will soon tell you this. People get mocked for wearing a pink shirt for gods sake, where in Europe this is not even blinked at!. Perth is so cut off, they think they are worldly-wise, but they simply are NOT!. The shops shut everyday at 5.30pm and do not open on Sundays, apart from city centre. There is one late night shopping on a Thursady til 9pm. That is it. So if you like shops don't come here.

So if you like some variety in life and be able to get cheaply between cities, then the east coast, such as Melbourne or Sydney maybe the go. Adelaide is DULL, Brisbane is ok, but a bit like Perth in mentality and red neck. Think about your life and want from it. It can also get stinking HOT!. Today it is 39 degrees C apparently! Yuch!

Perth is actually around 100 miles in length, if you count the spread from Yanchep in the north, down to Mandurah (pronounced Mandra) in the south. Sure you have a map or google map it. West to east there is a sort of bubble round Perth city in a semi-circle and stretches from ocean to the hills for around 18 miles or so I think. So there is your geography.

There seems to be this mentaility in Perth of North or South of the river. I never quite understood it personally. This first thing I would be thinking about is what kind of work you will be involved with?, where it will be etc?. Perth gets is fair share of traffic snarls and fuel can add up. Nothing like the UK jams, but still on the Mitchell and Kwanana freeways in midsummer temps it could really get up your goat!?. The Mitchell joins into the Kwanana and runs north to south basically, with the train line going down the middle of each carriageway!. Bit bizarre, but it works. Trains are ok.....ish, but do get crowded. They are very cheap though, which is good.

Perth is expensive the more you get nearer to the city. If you are looking for established suburbs the western suburbs are ok, but very exi to rent and buy in. Subiacco is the same. So anything on the map like Nedlands, Dalkeith (well pricey!), Crawley, Subiacco, cottesloe etc are nice, but exi. Leederville and Mt. Lawley are the so-called uber-cool innner city areas, and actually cheaper to rent a small unit (flat) there than the western suburbs, which are nearer the beach. If you are after some sort of iota of nightlife in Perth - and it's not that fantastic, be warned, then Mount Lawley will be the go. In the mornings you would be going against the traffic too. It is right by the CBD (City centre), but nobody actually lives in the city centre that much in Perth, but more the surrounds then outwards.

You need to get there, rent a hotel for a week (Northbridge Hotel is ok for a week on budget rooms), on Lake Street in the city centre, but just off it in Lake street with guest underbuliding car parking. They are very nice. That would be a great point and just get the map out and drive, drive, drive.

Northern Suburbs can be very British indeed, and it is not uncommon to see Nissan Patrol 4x4's cruising around with "I love Wales" on the back. If you are a British enclave try Mindari Keys, Butler, Joondalup, Brighton, Kinross etc etc. You will feel right at home. These places are still around 45 minutes minimum to Perth central though. Northern suburbs it is far more beachy I woudl say, and very nice ones at the too. Not many forests etc though, and homes are built on sand dunes and well sand, basically. The view looking back towards Perth from Butler for example is a forest - a forest of houses with no break in them really. Depends what you like really. Good for young families though.

South of the River are similar places, although less British I would say. Alot more 1980's things I would say, but new estates are springing up. There is more forest and bush and nice fields to the south I would say. Rockingham is where all the poms went in the 1970's and you drive through there it still is like that!. It is DEPRESSING, full of chavs with mulletts who think Funboy 3 are a new band, and Ultravox are 'in'!. LOADS, and LOADS of Vikki Pollards there!. The city centre is a shopping mall! It reminds me of a cross between Milton Keynes and Torremolinos! However, Baldivis nearby is right on the freeway )or very near) and very nice with new builds etc, and you aint that far from the sea. Great aquatics centre in Rocko though!.But if you like wearing a shell suit you will be in heaven!. Alot of the Aussies there seems to have a massive chip about anyone outside Rocko who dares to go and attempt anything new and it really is the epitomy of tall-poppy and cultural cringe!. A few kms'. Madurah si a bit further down and personally I feel a bit of a hike to Perth everyday. It's fool of retirees are bogans too (chavs). Secret Harbor though and Madora Bay are quite nice though and you will find lots of nice Brits hiding in and around there. Nice beaches there.

Perth Hill are lovely - there are some great areas. i would defo go and look at Lesmurdy, Greenslopes, Kalamunda, Guidford and the Swan Valley etc. Not beachy at all, but still very beautiful. Not too far from the city too.

Chookas